Bridging the history of two counties

Phil Duff is a resident of Seattle. But the 51-year-old architect who grew up in Columbia remembers the days when he and his father, who attended Burnett School, would stop beside the old Burnett School Bridge and Phil would throw rocks off the bridge into Cedar Creek.

Families pose at the Burnett School Bridge in 1909. The bridge has had little repair work over the past century and is now closed. However, current residents – and a few fans – would like for the bridge to be preserved.

Duff has now lived in Seattle for the past 17 years, but remembers bringing his daughter to the Burnett School Bridge when she was four or five years old.

“My dad is no longer around,” Duff says, “but despite living in Seattle, I can come here and meet people who know the same stories. This bridge is a touchstone for the history of the region and my family history.”

Duff was one of nearly 30 people who met on the bridge on Saturday morning in what has become an annual event.

“I came back a couple of years ago and people were talking about the bridge. We had about 16 people come out in 2014 and we also went to Backbone Bridge and Rutherford Bridge. Last year….it went from history walk to a “rally” and we talked about the potential for bridge repair.

“This year, I had a trip planned and I thought I would just ‘low-key it’ – then social media just lit up the Friday before I left,” Duff said.

The meeting was positive, with John Lindsay sharing the potential of a FLAP grant – a federal program to improve transportation near federal lands.